Accomplishments
Throughout our history, our local work has been groundbreaking, often setting the pace for change around the state and nation. We are proud to have helped lead the charge against lung disease through the following work:
Lung Disease
- We developed the original Camp Superstuff curricula for asthmatic children which has been used nationwide for many years.
- We have among the longest running patient support groups, equipment provision programs and patient education programs in the nation.
School-Site Programming:
- First agency to bring health education curricula into local classrooms (1940s)
TB Prevention Partnership:
- We chair one of only three coalitions in the country that utilizes a community-wide model for TB prevention and education
Clean Air Projects:
- We are instrumental in passing groundbreaking local transportation policies, environmental protections (such as wood burning restrictions) as well as the state's smog-check law.
Smoke-Free Protections:
- We won the country’s first local smoke-free ordinance.
- We also won many other local workplace/restaurant and bar/public place ordinances long before the passage of any statewide or national law.
- We developed the first secondhand smoke help line.
- We currently enjoy the lowest smoking rate in California – 12.3%
Smoking Prevention:
- Our C.L.A.S.P. peer mentoring tobacco prevention program was among the first nationally recommended models.
- We developed the Smokeless Saturday class, an innovative “diversion” program for minors cited for tobacco possession
- We offer one of the only programs for high risk teens (such as homeless or incarcerated youth)
Smoking Cessation:
- We were among the first in the nation to develop Spanish-language, teen and senior cessation programs.
- We were one of the first to ever bring cessation classes to the workplace.
Other Tobacco Issues:
- We led efforts to pass the landmark tobacco tax, Proposition 99, by collecting more signatures than any other local agency in the state. The tax has resulted in a 33% reduction in California smoking rates
- We developed the nation’s first citywide strategic plan for tobacco control